Right of Claim' - John, Ronon and Rodney are imprisioned off world by a society where men have to be owned or executed. Elizabeth has to prove they belong to her and has to go way beyond the call of duty to prove John is hers.

Author's Note: Another (rushed) multi chapter fic from me. This one is four chapters long and I'm working on the rest as soon as I finish uploading this, so the 2nd chapter should be soon. Enjoy.

Right Of Claim

By Steph7085

The planet was beautiful. It wasn't just grass and trees like they usually were, there were gardens that stretched out in all directions, all well maintained and something the botanists would love to get their hands on. Ahead of them trees lined the horizon, densely compact and probably good cover if they needed any, or a good place hide if there were people here.

A sneeze broke the peaceful silence that had befallen the group as soon as they stepped through the Stargate, followed by several more and an over dramatic groan.

"Oh God, I'm dying, "Rodney complied his tone groggy, his eyes red and puffy. "I have to go back to Atlantis right now. " Ronon chuckled catching the scientists attention, he sent the full force of his glare at him and then John who had an amused smirk on his face. Teyla threw John and Ronon an exasperated look and stepped forward, her eyes kind as she laid a hand on Rodney's arm.

"Rodney, did you not take your medication before we left?" she asked kindly. An irritated look crossed the scientists face and he crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

"Of course I did, I'm not an idiot like some people," he retorted, throwing John and Ronon his most potent glare.

"McKay," John growled, his annoyance plainly visible. Ronon just smirks and stalked forward, John quickly following and trusting Teyla to deal with the incredibly annoying scientist.

"And did Carson not say that the medicine would take a few minutes to work," she reminded him, her expression stern. Rodney's face darkened miserably.

"Oh fine, but if I die I'm blaming you," he threatened with a pout, "oh, and Sheppard as well."

The scientist marched away leaving Teyla to watch his retreating back, shaking her head. After a couple of calming breaths she rushed forward, catching up with the group easily. Ronon nodded at her and she smiled keeping a few paces behind. A few moments later a feeling of unease settled on her, a tingling up her spine they made her instantly on the alert.

She scanned her surroundings, tightening her grip on her weapon as her unease grew. Ronon noticed her preoccupation and slowed his gate until he was at her side, his own eyes scanned the tree line.

"What do you see?" he asked gruffly, never slowing his pace. John glanced back at then, throwing a questioning look their way before he followed their eye line and gripped his gun harder.

"What? What is it?" Rodney asked, his eyes bouncing around wildly as panic started to take hold. He fumbled for his gun just as John silenced him with a warning look.

Teyla sighed. "I do not see anything, I just feel as if I should know this place," she explained to Ronon who nodded understandingly, training his weapon on the tree line. He knew Teyla's instincts were as good, if not, better than his own and he's never been a person to ignore instinct.

"Bad feeling?" Ronon questioned.

"Yes," she admitted , remembering childhood tales of a beautiful planet that all travellers should be wary of, and stories of men not returning home. They were coming closer to the tree line and Teyla's unease went into overdrive. She quickly moved to John's side.

"John, I think we should fall back," she advised, gaining John's attention. He licked his lips and scanned the area once more, them met Ronon's gaze. The Satedan nodded his agreement.

"Alight…"

Flower beds all around them flew into the air, women dressed in dark green jump suits, loose brown jackets and brown belts holding all sorts of blades and other things the team couldn't recognise, leapt out. They surrounded the team easily, their advanced bow-like weapons aimed at each member of the team.

John was the first to hold his let his weapon go and place his hands in a position of surrender, the others followed, Ronon reluctantly. The woman closest to John and Teyla held her weapon inches from John's face as she moved forward, it was then Teyla noticed that all the weapons were trained on the male members of the team.

The strangers eyes were spitting fire, but she refused to even look at any of the men, her gaze focussed on Teyla. John tried to speak but the woman backhanded him with her bow not even taking her gaze from Teyla who threw John and Ronon, who was tense and ready to fight, a look begging them to be quiet. They nodded imperceptibly, Ronon settling on glaring threateningly.

"I am Nyla," she told her. "You are?"

Teyla slowly let her hands fall to her sides. "Teyla Emmagan."

"And are these your men, Teyla Emmagan?" she interrogated, spitting out the word 'men' as if it was something distasteful.

"They are my team, yes," Teyla answered honestly, trying her best to remember the old tales her Father told her. Her stomach sank as the memories came back, it was too late to correct her mistake now.

"But you do not own them, they are not in your possession," she stated simply, finally sparing the men a quick glance. Her deep blue eyes studied each of them in turn, resting slightly longer on John before she turned back the Teyla.

"Men under no possession are breaking article 6 of the Lomarian code, the punishment is execution," she informed the Athosian neutrally.

Nyla watched the interaction suspiciously. "You are not their leader, and you do not claim them yet they listen to you."

"I apologise if we have offended you or broken your laws," Teyla told Nyla sincerely, "but we were not aware of them. In our culture men do not have to be owned, they are free," the Athosian explained. Nyla sneered in disgust.

"Ignorance is not an excuse and your culture is of no concern to me." She nodded at her subordinates and they moved forward, restraining the men and trying to remove their weapons.

"Now hang on a minute," John protested only to have Nyla march forward, snatch a device from her belt and jam it into his neck. John shuddered violently for a few seconds before loosing consciousness. Rodney had already received the same treatment and Ronon was doing his best to fight off five of the other females, unfortunately for him another three came at him from behind and he fell into an unconscious heap.

Teyla watched helplessly, wanting nothing more than to dive in and help her friends, but she knew she wouldn't be able to beat them all, and that she would be of no use to any of them if she was knocked out as well. Her teams weapons were removed and piled at Teyla's feet before the woman started to drag her friends away, as if they were nothing but rubbish. Nyla stood in front of Teyla.

"You may leave," she advised. "We have no interest in your weapons so you must take them with you." She started to walk away.

"Wait," Teyla called after her. Nyla paused and glanced over her shoulder, her impatience clear. "Our leader, a female, will not be happy that you have imprisoned her people. She will want her men back."

"Then she must claim them," Nyla told her neutrally. "The executions will be held two sunrises from now. If they are not claimed by then, they will die. With that said Nyla and her remaining subordinates walked away leaving Teyla alone in the clearing.

Tbc...

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